House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy found a sweet way to stay on President Donald Trump's good side, presenting him with a special jar of only his two favorite Starburst flavors.

McCarthy noticed the president's candy preference as the two men bonded aboard Air Force One in October, according to a Washington Post account.

Rifling through a handful of chewy Starbursts, Trump picked out only the cherry and strawberry flavored ones.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (left) found a unique way to ingratiate himself with U.S. President Donald Trump – and the way to his heart is through his sweet tooth

McCarthy saw Trump picking out only the cherry and strawberry Starbursts from a package aboard Air Force One, and decided to send him a jar of only the ones he liked

'We're there, having a little dessert, and he offers me some,' McCarthy told the paper. 'Just the red and the pink.'

'A bit later, a couple of his aides saw me with those colors and told me, "Those are the president's favorites".'

McCarthy, the second-ranking House Republican – he sets the floor schedule and is next in line behind Speaker Paul Ryan – later got a supply of the chewy sweets and tasked an aide with sorting through them to cull Trump's lesser favorites.

The California Republican had the candies placed in a jar and presented to the president. He 'made sure his name was on the side of the gift,' according to the account, and had it delivered to a 'grinning' president, a White House official said.

Share this article

In the Air Force One meeting last October, McCarthy learned that Trump has favorite candy flavors, and he used that bit of information to his own advantage

Orange and lemon Starbursts? Not in Trump's Oval Office. It's just cherry and strawberry for him

McCarthy may not have known that Wrigley already makes a red-only Starburst variety pack.

'FaveReds' include cherry, strawberry, fruit punch and watermelon.

The candy gesture illustrates how McCarthy has gone out of his way to cultivate his bond with the president.

During an unusual immigration meeting where Trump allowed cameras in for nearly an hour, it was McCarthy who jumped in after Trump appeared to be agreeing with Democrats' goal of promoting a bill that would restore the controversial 'DACA' program with no strings attached.

'Mr. President, you need to be clear, though,' he said. 'You have to have security.'

That quick save nudged the president back to talk of building his proposed wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

McCarthy hasn't always been behind the president, and had to do some face-saving repairs to their relationship once Trump was elected.

McCarthy once suggested that Trump was on Vladimir Putin's payroll, but saved his bacon last week during an immigration meeting at the White House

During the 2016 campaign he participated in a conversation with Ryan and other top GOP leaders about the Ukrainian prime minister's belief that Russia's government had put its long tentacles to work disrupting foreign elections in Europe and elsewhere.

Reacting to news that hackers had infiltrated the Democratic National Committee's computer network, McCarthy said on June 15, 2016 that he thought Moscow was trying to harvest opposition research on Trump so it could provide it all to his team.